First and 10: Monday afternoon NFL power rankings

Matt Vensel

Because doing a full, 32-team list of power rankings is too much work for a Monday afternoon, I will rank the top 11 teams in the NFL after each exciting football Sunday (that's where the "first and 10" comes in). Here's how I rank them after a wild divisional round weekend that knocked out two of the top trophy contenders.

1. New England: The Patriots haven’t lost since Nov. 6, averaging 37.3 points during a nine-game win streak.

2. New York:Eli Manning has become an elite, top-six quarterback. Will he claim a second ring with the Giants?

3. Baltimore: The Ravens need a complete football game in all three phases to beat the Patriots on the road.

4. San Francisco: My apologies to Alex Smith and his supporters. I didn’t know the guy had that in him.

5. Green Bay: Who would have thought that Aaron Rodgers, the league MVP, would be out-dueled by Eli?

6. New Orleans: The Saints defense couldn’t get a stop Saturday when it was needed (but what a fun game).

7. Houston: The Texans, who have a ton of young talent, shouldn’t hang their heads after this trying season.

8. Denver: The Broncos have to see how the Tim Tebow experiment plays out, so go get him some weapons.